| Technology will prevail in difficult times |
Technology will prevail in difficult times As the year winds to an end, David Brett, President of Amadeus Asia Pacific, tells Yeoh Siew Hoon about why he is still optimistic about the industry and how technology can help during the difficult times ahead. Despite the current global economic gloom, record fuel prices and rising inflation, I am still optimistic about Asian travel and tourism because: ...travel is still regarded as a necessity on both a corporate and personal level. In an era where companies become more globalised and people are more internationalised, travel will remain an important aspect of life and the demand will remain. The economic downturn is certainly affecting the travel industry. Airports across Asia have reported a softening of passenger traffic, and growth in travel bookings is slowing. Travel writers and pundits, who just months ago had been predicting continued expansion of the industry, are now reporting slowing passenger traffic across the globe. However, we are confident that the travel numbers will eventually pick up again. The travel industry is highly resilient and it has weathered many storms in the past, including the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and SARS in 2003. In order to overcome the downturn, travel professionals and providers should review existing resources and engage the right tools to ensure they capitalise on every single opportunity for returns. This is when technology from a partner like Amadeus is needed more than ever, as a driver of innovation – the right solutions can help travel providers and corporations alike to cut costs and manage resources efficiently, allowing them to weather the economic storm with lessened impact. One good example that illustrates this is airlines investing in new-generation IT such as the Amadeus Altéa solution, despite the tightening of corporate spending. These airlines recognise that in order to cut costs and maximise revenues, as well as maintain customer loyalty, they must be operating with technology that increases efficiency and streamlines customer service processes. Airlines are in trouble. Amadeus will help airlines cut distribution and technology costs by: Offering variable cost models that allow airlines to pay for technology based on their booking volumes, so that they pay more when business is booming and less when there is a slowdown. Amadeus already offers this type of cost model for airlines. In addition, Amadeus’ Altéa IT solution is a community-based model, which means that airlines can share the cost of the technology investment, greatly decreasing what an individual airline would pay for a unique IT platform or developing their own in-house system. This is particularly beneficial for airlines who are members of an alliance such as Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam. These airlines not only benefit from the direct cost saving, but also can provide more seamless service to customers taking codeshare or interlinking flights since they are operating on the same IT system. Technology will increasingly become a facilitator as airlines develop flexible strategies. This compares to the previous ‘legacy’ environment where technology has been a limiting factor. Travel agents are being disintermediated. Amadeus will help travel agents stay relevant by: On the contrary, we believe that travel agents are still very relevant despite the changes in the industry, particularly in Asia, which is a known to be an agent-orientated market. Travel agencies have evolved and will continue to adapt to survive in today’s marketplace. Travel agents are increasingly moving towards a ‘retailing’ role, which is more service-orientated and focuses on adding value to the travel booking experience. Technology is helping to provide agents with the tools they need to make this change. Amadeus is constantly investing in research and development to create new technologies that not only help travel agencies to improve their operational efficiency, but also give them new methods of communicating and selling to customers. For example, the Amadeus SMS solution allows agents to send travel itineraries and updates to customers via text message on their mobile phone. This type of communication is convenient and reassuring for a busy corporate executive or mobile phone-dependent traveler, and therefore adds value to their experience in dealing with a travel agent. Hotels are also in for challenging times. Amadeus will help hoteliers by: Providing technologies that help hotels to extend their reach and access new customers. With more people accessing the Internet and using it to research hotel options, online bookings have become an important revenue source for hotels. With Amadeus web retailing technologies, hotels can ensure that their presence on the Internet is a strong representation of their brand and makes it easy for guests to make bookings. In addition, we are helping to link hotels with third parties online that can increase their share of web bookings. An example of this is our recent connection of the hotel Property Management System (PMS) and Expedia. This allows guests to search for hotel room availability in real time, increasing the chances of a booking and helping the hotel to maintain an efficient booking system. The one piece of advice I’d give my partners is: Stick to your own long-term strategy and continue to seek new ways to innovate your processes and services. In today’s fast-changing travel industry, the company that stands still will not succeed. Airlines should take time out to look closely at their current business processes, and to see if they are optimised and how they suit future strategy. By observing how others are innovating and taking advice before entering into long-term commitments, they can go a long way towards ensuring that they have future-proof technology. Consumer needs are changing. Today’s travellers are more knowledgeable about their options and wants to find information and book travel in a convenient way. Since travellers are increasingly comfortable using new technologies, travel providers must present information and booking options using those same technologies, and keep up with consumer trends. This means investing in technology and adopting innovative new ways of doing things. As well as helping a travel provider to keep up with customer needs, adopting new technology will also help to streamline and automate their business practices, which will increase efficiency and ultimately help to cut costs. If I had to focus on three things this year, they would be: 1. Continually improving communication, both internally and with customers 2. Working together with the industry to find long term solutions to face the challenges we all face 3. Striving to implement new technologies quicker The Personal Side of David Brett: Read Transit Café this week. |
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